HP Printer Drivers 5.1 are malware?

I was asked if I wanted to install that driver, since it had an outdated certificate--I did anyway.

Apple admonishes its users not to install drivers, so you and everyone else who did may be suffering from the effects of using a certificate that has expired.

Refer to Add a printer on Mac - Apple Support.

I do not profess to know what the underlying cause may turn out to be, but Apple has been inexorably pushing everyone to use AirPrint for about a decade now. At present it seems to affect only HP drivers. If your HP printer is AirPrint-enabled, then remove the existing print queue and add it again as an AirPrint printer.

If it is not AirPrint-enabled, this event may portend the end of support for them. As I wrote I don't know for certain.

The dialog box is certainly misleading. A driver downloaded from HP certainly isn't malware, but these days it seems anything that doesn't conform to Apple's iron-clad security requirements might as well be. We'll have to just wait to see how Apple and HP resolve it, assuming either one is motivated to do that.

Who dare what? HP erroneously told Apple to revoke the certificates for many old drivers. Apple did and it broke them.

You can get the new 5.1 HP drivers through Software Update. If you don't see it there, Apple now has it posted.

https://support.apple.com/kb/dl1888?locale=en_US

The driver software is NOT malware. It is NOT a compatibility conflict, or a stability issue, or software glitch.

* It is simply an EXPIRED CERTIFICATE *

Although I don't know where to find the expiration date of the software certificate for drivers currently installed on my computer, when I tried to update the drivers, the most recent release (from Aug 4, 2020) is already expired!

So the solution is exactly what @SteveSgt posted by StevePSplusB209:

An HP developer must

- re-sign the HP Utility code using a valid certificate authority

- re-create the installer package and sign it

- post the updated installer package on HP Support

The only temporary work around that should work is setting the date back on your computer. HOWEVER, if you do this, most website functions will not work because of the mismatched date.

I read the link you posted. The "HP Utility" app has always been a piece of junk. I suspect the problem isn't limited to just it though.

I do not (and will not) use HP printers. Their Apple support has always been abysmal.

When this happened to me on the weekend I nuked everything on my Mac that referred to hp printers because I decided to order a new Brothers to replace my 12 year old HP printer rather than mess with workarounds. Interestingly, after I rebooted my computer the printer reappeared in System Preferences/Printers & Scanners and works fine! Good to go until the new printer arrives (getting duplex printing and wifi, so it's an upgrade). I learned about this from a poster on MacForums who did the same thing. Apple and HP must have rushed out an overnight fix.

Congratulations @shinesky on getting a new printer! I think Brother is a very good choice. My experience with HP printers is that HP is not as focused on good, clean technical code, functionality, stability, and longevity as they are on marketing and selling the newest model - often just forgetting about older units all together. It seems that I have had to "figure out" something on every HP printer I've had to get it to work that way I need. I also have a Brother laser printer that has been a solid workhorse from the beginning. Installation on every computer was straightforward, maintenance is minimal, support is still active, and the interface just works every time. Best of luck & enjoy!

It happened today after rebooting my Mac. The error messages were so frightening and nagging that I decided to remove everything related to HP printers.

Removed all instances of HP printer in System Preferences, uninstalled all related software (HP Utility, HP Scan) and rebooted until no more warnings were shown.

Adding printer in System Preferences afterwards yielded no more warnings. And have restored all print and scanning features back without the need to install any HP driver from App Store or HP site.

So much hassle due to an incredible basic (and important) procedure of signing or revoking a certificate!

I was able to set up a new printer and select a generic driver to print to my HP 2055dn.

Opened printers in preferences.

double click on printer

at bottom of window pick software...choose generic

save a new printer.

worked for me.

this is what pushed me to try...https://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/global/set-default-printer-print-center.html

Both apple and HP complete idiots. I’m suffering for a week already. Some solutions temporary work like https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printer-Setup-Software-Drivers/MacOS-Big-Sur/td-p/7853668/page/4

then broke down again.

****. What to do?

See the information in Kurt Lang's response in this recent thread. HP says they messed up:

HP Scanner 3 will harm your computer - Apple Community

Another thread about this:

https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/10/23/some-mac-users-being-warned-that-amazon-music-app-and-hp-drivers-are-malware

I've never installed the printer driver direct from HP, only whatever Apple software update pulls in and it hasn't pulled one in for a very long time. Still same issue, however.

me too, how very dare they !!!!

HP Download, fab solved the problem, wonderful ! No new printer needed.